Media leaders, philanthropists raise $15M for local news initiative in LA
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Boyle Heights Beat Community Reporter Alex Medina at the 6th St. Bridge Opening in July 2022. Credit: The Los Angeles Local initiative
A group of well-known media leaders and philanthropists have teamed with the American Journalism Project (AJP) to raise $15 million for a new, Los Angeles-based local news initiative.
Why it matters: The local news ecosystem in LA, the second-largest city by population in the U.S., has been decimated in recent years by layoffs and cutbacks related to business challenges.
Catch up quick: The Los Angeles Local initiative came together nearly two years ago in response to research commissioned by AJP that underscored the need for a hyper-local news solution for LA.
- The research included input from 900 LA residents about gaps in community coverage, said Monica Lozano, the Initiative's board chair and formerly editor, publisher and CEO of La Opinión, an LA-based Spanish-language daily newspaper and website.
What they're saying: "We believe no one news entity can fill all of the information needs of communities as large, complex and diverse as Los Angeles," Lozano told Axios. "We needed to think about a model that would match that complexity and that diversity."
Zoom in: In addition to the AJP, the initiative's funding partners include a slew of heavy hitters, including Snap CEO Evan Spiegel's family fund, The Annenberg Foundation, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and many more.
- The organization will be governed by a board that includes Lozano, former LA Times executive editor Kevin Merida, Emmy-award winning Spectrum News anchor Giselle Fernandez, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation president Gerun Riley and American Journalism Project chief investment officer Michael Ouimette.
How it works: The initiative will create a nonprofit news organization to support hyper-local newsrooms that serve LA residents.
- It will eventually be renamed once an executive team is in place, AJP CEO Sarabeth Berman told Axios in an interview.
- The group's goal is to increase the volume of accountability journalism and local news coverage in LA, filling the gaps at the community, state, and regional levels.
- To achieve that, it will launch and operate community publications in areas that need more coverage. It will also partner with existing local outlets and journalism schools to coordinate free content sharing and special projects.
- It has already established partnerships with several local outlets, such as Witness LA, USC Annenberg, and Nguoi Viet News.
Between the lines: In areas that lack a strong community news outlet, the initiative will look to build new newsrooms modeled after Boyle Heights Beat. The bilingual, community newsroom serves Boyle Heights and East LA.
- It will expand Boyle Heights Beat's student training program to more communities and school partners.
- It will also launch L.A. Documenters, a local affiliate of the Documenters Network, an effort run by Chicago civic media outlet City Bureau, which trains and pays residents to cover public meetings.
- The initiative will invest in the government accountability reporting teams at LAist and CalMatters. Their work will be made available free for republishing to the initiative's publishing partners.
Follow the money: The business model for the new organization will be similar to other AJP-backed local news outlets, such as Signal Ohio and Block Club Chicago.
- Coverage will be free and politically independent. The organization will take philanthropic support and will lean into membership revenue from readers. It will broker corporate sponsorships around some editorial products, including events, Berman said.
The big picture: While most of the media industry has faced financial challenges over the past few years, the local news ecosystem in Los Angeles has been hit particularly hard.
- The Los Angeles Times, once one of the most powerful regional newspapers in the country, cut 115 staffers in January, months after laying off 74 newsroom staffers amid advertising declines last year. The first round of cuts disproportionately impacted Latino staffers and led to an exodus of its most senior newsroom staff.
- LAist has cut 24 employees through buyouts and layoffs this year amid financial challenges. It laid off 21 staffers the year prior.
- LA Weekly, an alternative weekly magazine, saw most of its senior staffers exit following a buyout announcement in March.
- DotLA, a tech news site, laid off all seven of its editorial staffers last June.
- L.A. Magazine laid off multiple staffers earlier this year amid financial challenges, per The Wrap.
What's next: The initiative has started a search for its founding CEO and Executive Editor. Its executive team will be selected via a public process and will include community input.
